One of the problems encountered when growing plants with self watering pots is the continual human filling and accurate mixing of the reservoir with nutrient solution. It would therefore be desirable to have an automatic nutrient dispenser capable of feeding organic or conventional plant nutrient including fertilizer. The price premiums paid for organic fruits and vegetables compared to conventional growing of fruits and vegetables makes growing organic with self watering pots important. Organic sales of fresh fruits and vegetables are estimated to reach 8.5 billion in 2010, an increase of more then 300 percent over sales in 2000 according to the Nutrition Business Journal.
Self watering pots are used to grow fresh fruits and vegetables. Self watering pots are known to regulate the nutrient solution into the pots using a variety of devices and techniques including liquid level float valves and flow control devices. The nutrient flow from these control devices enters the pot allowing nutrient solution to feed by capillary action generally from the base of the pot to the plant. The nutrient supply to the liquid level control device is known to be a storage reservoir located above the control device. This reservoir uses gravity to feed the nutrient to the liquid level control device then to the plants. Reservoirs for supplying liquid nutrient to the self watering control devices include buckets, drums or similar water storage containers. These reservoirs are filled with water and nutrient solution including water soluble organic and conventional fertilizer. A liquid level float valve connected to a pressurized water supply is known to maintain the reservoir liquid level acting as a cistern. This method of filling the reservoir will dilute the nutrient solution previously mixed in the reservoir resulting in variable nutrient solution concentration feeding the plants.
Other systems utilize a pressurized water supply rather than a gravity-feed supply.